Help:Manual of Style: Difference between revisions

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This '''Manual of Style''' ('''MoS''') is a brief style manual for all articles on this Wiki. When a MoS guideline offers a choice of style, use only one alternative consistently throughout an article, and do not unreasonably alter a choice that has already been made. If there are any changes or suggestions you think should be made to the MoS, visit the talk page to discuss them. These are by no means firm rules, but these suggestions help create consistent articles.

==Layout==

== Layout ==

A [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Stub#Creating and improving a stub article|simple article]] should have, at least, (a) a lead section and (b) references. The following list includes additional standardized sections in an article. A complete article need not have all, or even most, of these elements.

A [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Stub#Creating and improving a stub article|simple article]] should have, at least, (a) a lead section and (b) references. The following list includes additional standardized sections in an article. A complete article need not have all, or even most, of these elements. For standardized sections in articles on certain subjects, see {{section link|Help:Editing guide|Articles}}.

# Before the article content

## {{tl|DISPLAYTITLE}}, {{tl|Lowercase title}}, {{tl|Italic title}} (some of these may also be placed before the infobox or after the infobox)

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## [[#"See also" section|See also]]{{efn|name=Syntax|1=Syntax:

==See also==

== See also ==

* [[Help:Editing_guide]]{{snd}}an overview page that will answer all your editing-related questions

* [[Wikipedia:Help:Cheatsheet]]{{snd}}a page that provides the most commonly used wiki markup

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## [[MediaWikiWiki:Help:Categories|Categories]]

==Capital letters==

== Capital letters ==

Use [[Wikipedia:Sentence case|sentence case]] for article titles and section headings{{spaced ndash}}{{xt|Tips and pointers}}, not {{!xt|Tips and Pointers}}.

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When in doubt about whether to capitalize something, default to lowercase.

==Abbreviations==

== Abbreviations ==

To indicate ''approximately'', the non-italicized abbreviation {{xt|c.}} (followed by a space) is preferred over {{!xt|circa}}, {{!xt|ca.}}, or {{!xt|approx.}}

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Use "{{xt|and}}" instead of the "{{!xt|&}}" sign, except in tables, infoboxes, and official names like {{xt|AT&T}}.

==Punctuation==

== Punctuation ==

===Apostrophes and quotation marks===

=== Apostrophes and quotation marks ===

Use straight quote marks {{key press|"}} and apostrophes {{key press|'}} as available from the keyboard, and not alternatives such as {{!xt|“ ”}} and {{!xt|‘ ’}}.

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Write {{xt|James's house}}, not {{!xt|James' house}}.

===Periods and commas===

=== Periods and commas ===

Place a [[Wikipedia:Full stop|full stop]] (a period) or a comma ''before'' a closing quotation mark if it belongs as part of the quoted material; otherwise put it after: {{xt|The word ''carefree'' means "happy"<span style{{=}}"background:#bfb">.</span>}} But {{xt|She said, "I'm feeling carefree<span style{{=}}"background:#bfb">.</span>"}} (Please do so irrespective of any rules associated with the variety of English in use.)

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Picture captions should not end in a full stop (a period) unless they are complete sentences.

===Dashes and hyphens===

=== Dashes and hyphens ===

Avoid using a hyphen after a standard -ly adverb ({{xt|a newly available home}}).

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Use {{xt|one, two, three, ..., eight, nine}} in most cases, not {{!xt|1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}} (exceptions include times and dates, equations, sport scores, most measurements, and data in tables). Use digits for {{xt|10}} and higher (though some such numbers also may be written as words, when it helps clarity).

==Markup==

== Markup ==

Instead of an ordinary space, use <code>&nbsp;</code> (a ''non-breaking space'') to prevent a line from ending in the middle of expressions like {{xt|17 kg}}, {{xt|565 BCE}}, {{xt|2:50 pm}}, {{xt|£11 billion}}, {{xt|129 million}}, {{xt|{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{xt|5° 24′ 21.12″ N}}, or {{xt|Boeing 747}}; also after the number in {{xt|123 Fake Street}}, and before [[Wikipedia:Roman_numerals|Roman numerals]] in {{xt|World War II}} and {{xt|Pope Benedict XVI}}. Use <code>&nbsp;</code> in the same way inside a wikilink. (An alternative: enclose the whole expression using the template {{tl|nowrap}}.)

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Use [[Wikipedia:Hyperlink#Wikis|wikilinks]], but only for words and phrases that are most likely to be helpful if clicked. Make sure each link goes to an article on the intended subject, and not to a disambiguation page or incorrect destination.

==References==

== References ==

There are multiple [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Citing sources|citation]] styles. The most common uses {{tag|ref}} (''ref tags'') to create footnotes (sometimes called endnotes or notes), which will appear in the reference or endnote section. This citation should immediately follow the text to which it applies, including any punctuation (with some exceptions).

==Usage==

== Usage ==

Due to OWOT having an international user base, this Wiki prefers no major national variety of the language over any other. These varieties (e.g. [[Wikipedia:American English|U.S. English], [[Wikipedia:British English|British English]]) differ in vocabulary (''soccer'' vs. ''football''), spelling (''center'' vs. ''centre''), and occasionally grammar.

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Avoid phrases like {{!xt|note that}} and {{!xt|remember that}} (which assume "you" for the reader); and avoid such expressions as {{!xt|of course}} and {{!xt|obviously}}.

==See also==

== See also ==

* [[Help:Editing_guide]]{{snd}}an overview page that will answer all your editing-related questions

* [[Wikipedia:Help:Cheatsheet]]{{snd}}a page that provides the most commonly used wiki markup

==Notes==

== Notes ==

[[Category:OWOT Wiki basic information]]